A coalition of civil rights groups urged the Pennsylvania state Senate to defeat a House-approved voter ID bill because it would jeopardize the votes of 340,000 seniors who do not have state-issued photo ID.
Among those seniors is the 93-year-old mother of Wendy Booker of Wayne, Pennsylvania. Booker says her mother is angry about potentially losing her right to vote because she had to give up her license five years ago. Ms. Booker’s mother has voted since 1940.
“Voting is our most cherished right and we can’t afford to spend our tax dollars creating new barriers that would prevent citizens from having their vote count,” said Jeff Garis of Pennsylvania Voice on the $11 million proposed law.
“The opponents included Common Cause, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Senior Law Center, the Pittsburgh-based Black Political Empowerment Project, the Pennsylvania Alliance of Retired Americans and two dozen other groups,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.